数学焦虑个体近似数量加工的神经机制:一项EEG研究

近似数量加工是对大数目物体数量在不依赖逐个数数前提下的估计。行为学研究提示高数学焦虑人群近似数量加工能力下降, 但神经机制未明。本研究探讨高数学焦虑个体近似数量加工的神经机制, 比较高低数学焦虑脑电活动的差异:(1)行为上无显著组间差异; (2)高数学焦虑组的P2p成分波幅增加; (3) δ频段ERS及β频段ERD无显著数量比例效应, 而低数学焦虑组在上述指标的数量比例效应显著。本研究为高数学焦虑人群近似数量加工能力下降提供了电生理学的证据。     

Time and interference: Effects on working memory

This study tested predictions from the time‐based resource‐sharing (TBRS) model with a classical verbal working memory (WM) task, where target and non‐target information interfere strongly with each other. Different predictions can be formulated according to the dominant perspectives (TBRS and interference hypothesis) on the role of inhibitory control in WM task performance. Here, we aimed to trace the activation of irrelevant information, examining priming effects in a lexical decision task immediately following WM recall. Results indicate the roles of both time and interference constraints in determining task performance. In particular, the role of time available seemed crucial at the highest WM loads (i.e., 3 and 4 memoranda). These were also associated with a higher activation of no‐longer‐relevant information but, in this case, independently from time available for processing.     

工作记忆负荷对反馈加工过程的影响:来自脑电研究的证据

个体对行为后反馈结果的加工在学习和环境适应方面有重要意义,工作记忆负荷(working memory load,WM load)如何影响反馈加工过程尚不清楚。采用双任务范式,设置基线、低WM load、高WM load三种条件,结合ERP技术对这一问题进行探究。发现RewP (reward positivity,奖赏正波)对效价敏感,而不受WM load条件影响;Theta震荡的正、负反馈差异波在高WMload条件下比在低WM load条件下小。结果支持等级强化学习-前扣带回理论(HRL-ACC, hierarchical reinforcement learning theory of anterior cingulate cortex)对于RewP和theta震荡的观点:RewP反映了反馈效价评估功能, theta震荡反映了认知控制功能,并且WM load选择性影响了ACC的认知控制功能而不是反馈效价评估功能。     

Visual working memory is disrupted by covert verbal retrieval

If working memory (WM) depends on a central resource—as is posited in some theories, but not in others—it should be possible to observe interference between tasks that share few features with each other. We investigated whether interference with WM for visual arrays would occur, even if the interfering task required neither visual processing nor overt responding. In an auditory-verbal interfering task, a response was to be made if a word was recognized as having come from one of two prelearned lists, but not from the other list. As compared with nonretrieval control conditions, even covert verbal memory retrieval disrupted the storage of visual items held in WM. A second experiment ruled out verbal recoding of the visual arrays as the basis of interference. The results indicate that visual WM and verbal long-term retrieval share a central resource (e.g., attention).     

The relative importance of two different mathematical abilities to mathematical achievement

Background. Two distinct abilities, mathematical reasoning and arithmetic skill, might make separate and specific contributions to mathematical achievement. However, there is little evidence to inform theory and educational practice on this matter. Aims. The aims of this study were (1) to assess whether mathematical reasoning and arithmetic make independent contributions to the longitudinal prediction of mathematical achievement over 5 years and (2) to test the specificity of this prediction. Sample. Data from Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) were available on 2,579 participants for analyses of KS2 achievement and on 1,680 for the analyses of KS3 achievement. Method. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to assess the independence and specificity of the contribution of mathematical reasoning and arithmetic skill to the prediction of achievement in KS2 and KS3 mathematics, science, and English. Age, intelligence, and working memory (WM) were controls in these analyses. Results. Mathematical reasoning and arithmetic did make independent contributions to the prediction of mathematical achievement; mathematical reasoning was by far the stronger predictor of the two. These predictions were specific in so far as these measures were more strongly related to mathematics than to science or English. Intelligence and WM were non‐specific predictors; intelligence contributed more to the prediction of science than of maths, and WM predicted maths and English equally well. Conclusions. There is clear justification for making a distinction between mathematical reasoning and arithmetic skills. The implication is that schools must plan explicitly to improve mathematical reasoning as well as arithmetic skills.     

Racing dragons and remembering aliens: Benefits of playing number and working memory games on kindergartners' numerical knowledge

Sources that contribute to variation in mathematical achievement include both numerical knowledge and general underlying cognitive processing abilities. The current study tested the benefits of tablet‐based training games that targeted each of these areas for improving the mathematical knowledge of kindergarten‐age children. We hypothesized that playing a number‐based game targeting numerical magnitude knowledge would improve children's broader numerical skills. We also hypothesized that the benefits of playing a working memory (WM) game would transfer to children's numerical knowledge given its important underlying role in mathematics achievement. Kindergarteners from diverse backgrounds (n = 148; 52% girls; M_age = 71.87 months) were randomly assigned to either play a number‐based game, a WM game, or a control game on a tablet for 10 sessions. Structural equation modeling was used to model children's learning gains in mathematics and WM across time. Overall, our results suggest that playing the number game improved kindergarten children's numerical knowledge at the latent level, and these improvements remained stable as assessed 1 month later. However, children in the WM group did not improve their numerical knowledge compared to children in the control condition. Playing both the number game and WM game improved children's WM at the latent level. Importantly, the WM group continued to improve their WM for at least a month after playing the games. The results demonstrate that computerized games that target both domain‐specific and domain‐general skills can benefit a broad range of kindergarten‐aged children.     

Individual differences in autistic trait load in the general population predict visual working memory performance

Prior studies have reported instances of both intact and impaired working memory (WM) performance in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In order to investigate the relation between autistic traits that extend into the normal population and WM, 104 normal college-aged students who varied in their levels of autistic traits were tested. The loading of ASD-associated traits in the normal population leads to differing predictions about WM performance. ASD traits related to a local processing style (or “attention to detail”) might enhance WM while ASD-associated traits related to difficulty switching attention and reorienting focus (or “social interaction”) might impair WM performance. To assess these predictions, participants filled out the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and performed a working memory task with both visual and verbal variants. AQ scores were then broken into “attention to detail” and “social interaction” factors, as proposed by Hoekstra and colleagues. The results showed that AQ scores did not predict verbal WM performance but they did predict visual WM performance. The social interaction and attention to detail factors of the AQ had opposing relationships with visual WM performance: A higher level of social difficulty was associated with significantly poorer visual WM performance while a higher level of attention to detail was associated with enhanced visual WM performance. Further investigation of the relation between AQ and WM using the original five-factor model proposed by Baron-Cohen and colleagues (2001) revealed an association between impoverished imagination and visual WM overall.     

What happens to an individual visual working memory representation when it is interrupted?

This study tested the hypothesis that even the simplest cognitive tasks require the storage of information in working memory (WM), distorting any information that was previously stored in WM. Experiment 1 tested this hypothesis by requiring observers to perform a simple letter discrimination task while they were holding a single orientation in WM. We predicted that performing the task on the interposed letter stimulus would cause the orientation memory to become less precise and more categorical compared to when the letter was absent or when it was present but could be ignored. This prediction was confirmed. Experiment 2 tested the modality specificity of this effect by replacing the visual letter discrimination task with an auditory pitch discrimination task. Unlike the interposed visual stimulus, the interposed auditory stimulus produced little or no disruption of WM, consistent with the use of modality‐specific representations. Thus, performing a simple visual discrimination task, but not a simple auditory discrimination task, distorts information about a single feature being maintained in visual WM. We suggest that the interposed task eliminates information stored within the focus of attention, leaving behind a WM representation outside the focus of attention that is relatively imprecise and categorical.     

Effects of Age on the Temporal Organization of Working Memory in Deaf Signers

ABSTRACT

Deaf native signers have a general working memory (WM) capacity similar to that of hearing non-signers but are less sensitive to the temporal order of stored items at retrieval. General WM capacity declines with age, but little is known of how cognitive aging affects WM function in deaf signers. We investigated WM function in elderly deaf signers (EDS) and an age-matched comparison group of hearing non-signers (EHN) using a paradigm designed to highlight differences in temporal and spatial processing of item and order information. EDS performed worse than EHN on both item and order recognition using a temporal style of presentation. Reanalysis together with earlier data showed that with the temporal style of presentation, order recognition performance for EDS was also lower than for young adult deaf signers. Older participants responded more slowly than younger participants. These findings suggest that apart from age-related slowing irrespective of sensory and language status, there is an age-related difference specific to deaf signers in the ability to retain order information in WM when temporal processing demands are high. This may be due to neural reorganisation arising from sign language use. Concurrent spatial information with the Mixed style of presentation resulted in enhanced order processing for all groups, suggesting that concurrent temporal and spatial cues may enhance learning for both deaf and hearing groups. These findings support and extend the WM model for Ease of Language Understanding.     

Angry expressions strengthen the encoding and maintenance of face identity representations in visual working memory

Visual working memory (WM) for face identities is enhanced when faces express negative versus positive emotion. To determine the stage at which emotion exerts its influence on memory for person information, we isolated expression (angry/happy) to the encoding phase (Experiment 1; neutral test faces) or retrieval phase (Experiment 2; neutral study faces). WM was only enhanced by anger when expression was present at encoding, suggesting that retrieval mechanisms are not influenced by emotional expression. To examine whether emotional information is discarded on completion of encoding or sustained in WM, in Experiment 3 an emotional word categorisation task was inserted into the maintenance interval. Emotional congruence between word and face supported memory for angry but not for happy faces, suggesting that negative emotional information is preferentially sustained during WM maintenance. Our findings demonstrate that negative expressions exert sustained and beneficial effects on WM for faces that extend beyond encoding.     

The Predictive Utility of a Working Memory Span Task Depends on Processing Demand and the Cognitive Task

The relationship between performance in working memory (WM) span tasks, scholastic skills and fluid intelligence was investigated to determine how WM span is related to higher order cognition. The predictive utility of two WM span tasks differing in the demand of the processing task was studied with controlled presentation times and a broad set of academic criterion tasks. Sixty‐eight adolescents (mean age 16 years) completed two WM span tasks, Raven's Progressive Matrices and several scholastic performance measures. The results showed that the more demanding WM span task predicted fluid intelligence, but did not contribute uniquely in explaining scholastic performance. In contrast, the less demanding WM task predicted scholastic performance. The results suggest that the strength of the relation between WM performance and higher order cognition varies in conjunction with both the demand of the WM span task and the type of higher order cognition measure.Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Expanding the mind’s workspace: Training and transfer effects with a complex working memory span task

In the present study, a novel working memory (WM) training paradigm was used to test the malleability of WM capacity and to determine the extent to which the benefits of this training could be transferred to other cognitive skills. Training involved verbal and spatial versions of a complex WM span task designed to emphasize simultaneous storage and processing requirements. Participants who completed 4 weeks of WM training demonstrated significant improvements on measures of temporary memory. These WM training benefits generalized to performance on the Stroop task and, in a novel finding, promoted significant increases in reading comprehension. The results are discussed in relation to the hypothesis that WM training affects domain-general attention control mechanisms and can thereby elicit far-reaching cognitive benefits. Implications include the use of WM training as a general tool for enhancing important cognitive skills.     

With sadness comes accuracy; with happiness, false memory: mood and the false memory effect

The Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm lures people to produce false memories. Two experiments examined whether induced positive or negative moods would influence this false memory effect. The affect-as-information hypothesis predicts that, on the one hand, positive affective cues experienced as task-relevant feedback encourage relational processing during encoding, which should enhance false memory effects. On the other hand, negative affective cues are hypothesized to encourage item-specific processing at encoding, which should discourage such effects. The results of Experiment 1 are consistent with these predictions: Individuals in negative moods were significantly less likely to show false memory effects than those in positive moods or those whose mood was not manipulated. Experiment 2 introduced inclusion instructions to investigate whether moods had their effects at encoding or retrieval. The results replicated the false memory finding of Experiment 1 and provide evidence that moods influence the accessibility of lures at encoding, rather than influencing monitoring at retrieval of whether lures were actually presented.     

Strategic development in exact calculation: group and individual differences in four achievement subtypes

This longitudinal study sought to identify developmental changes in strategy use between 5 and 7 years of age when solving exact calculation problems. Four mathematics and reading achievement subtypes were examined at four time points. Five strategies were considered: finger counting, verbal counting, delayed retrieval, automatic retrieval, and derived fact retrieval. Results provided unique insights into children's strategic development in exact calculation at this early stage. Group analysis revealed relationships between mathematical and/or reading difficulties and strategy choice, shift, and adaptiveness. Use of derived fact retrieval by 7 years of age distinguished children with mathematical difficulties from other achievement subtypes. Analysis of individual differences revealed marked heterogeneity within all subtypes, suggesting (inter alia) no marked qualitative distinction between our two mathematical difficulty subtypes.     

Working memory of highly self‐critical men is impaired by failure

Previous studies have shown self‐criticism to be negatively associated with goal progress. In order to investigate factors that may influence this association, the present study examined the interactive impact of performance (failure vs. success) and self‐criticism on working memory (WM). Goal‐directed behavior in the achievement domain was operationalized as comparative performance on two strongly correlated WM span tasks. The effect of negative or positive performance feedback was assessed by presenting a success or a failure experience between the two WM span tasks in order to examine the influence of failure and success on the second WM span task compared with the first/baseline. A male‐only sample was used as a follow‐up to a previous study that has utilized a female‐only sample. Findings revealed self‐criticism to serve as an individual difference factor that influences men's WM functioning in the context of failure. This interactive effect may contribute to diminished goal progress in men.     

Initial-retrieval “depth” and the negative recency effect

A novel variation of the probed recall, negative recency paradigm was employed to test the general hypothesis that the amount of learning from an initial recall test is a function of the level of processing used during initial retrieval, and to test specific predictions concerning the role of initial tests in the production and elimination of the negative recency effect. On each of 32 trials, 32 subjects each saw four words followed by a search-mode signal and a probe word. The level of initial retrieval processing (acoustic or semantic) was controlled by the search-mode signal. Initial test response latencies were recorded, and the learning derived from initial tests was assessed by an unexpected final free recall test. Final recall of words initially retrieved in the semantic-search condition showed no negative recency, while final recall of words initially retrieved in the acoustic-search condition did show negative recency. Conditional analyses showed that memory was incremented more by semantic-level initial retrieval than by acoustic-level initial retrieval. Implications of these results for an explanation of negative recency effects and for other learning-from-tests effects are discussed.     

Working memory components as predictors of children's mathematical word problem solving

This study determined the working memory (WM) components (executive, phonological loop, and visual–spatial sketchpad) that best predicted mathematical word problem-solving accuracy of elementary school children in Grades 2, 3, and 4 (N = 310). A battery of tests was administered to assess problem-solving accuracy, problem-solving processes, WM, reading, and math calculation. Structural equation modeling analyses indicated that (a) all three WM components significantly predicted problem-solving accuracy, (b) reading skills and calculation proficiency mediated the predictive effects of the central executive system and the phonological loop on solution accuracy, and (c) academic mediators failed to moderate the relationship between the visual–spatial sketchpad and solution accuracy. The results support the notion that all components of WM play a major role in predicting problem-solving accuracy, but basic skills acquired in specific academic domains (reading and math) can compensate for some of the influence of WM on children’s mathematical word problem solving.     

Associations of non‐symbolic and symbolic numerical magnitude processing with mathematical competence: a meta‐analysis

Many studies have investigated the association between numerical magnitude processing skills, as assessed by the numerical magnitude comparison task, and broader mathematical competence, e.g. counting, arithmetic, or algebra. Most correlations were positive but varied considerably in their strengths. It remains unclear whether and to what extent the strength of these associations differs systematically between non‐symbolic and symbolic magnitude comparison tasks and whether age, magnitude comparison measures or mathematical competence measures are additional moderators. We investigated these questions by means of a meta‐analysis. The literature search yielded 45 articles reporting 284 effect sizes found with 17,201 participants. Effect sizes were combined by means of a two‐level random‐effects regression model. The effect size was significantly higher for the symbolic (r = .302, 95% CI [.243, .361]) than for the non‐symbolic (r = .241, 95% CI [.198, .284]) magnitude comparison task and decreased very slightly with age. The correlation was higher for solution rates and Weber fractions than for alternative measures of comparison proficiency. It was higher for mathematical competencies that rely more heavily on the processing of magnitudes (i.e. mental arithmetic and early mathematical abilities) than for others. The results support the view that magnitude processing is reliably associated with mathematical competence over the lifespan in a wide range of tasks, measures and mathematical subdomains. The association is stronger for symbolic than for non‐symbolic numerical magnitude processing. So symbolic magnitude processing might be a more eligible candidate to be targeted by diagnostic screening instruments and interventions for school‐aged children and for adults.     

Working memory recall precision is a more sensitive index than span

Delayed adjustment tasks have recently been developed to examine working memory (WM) precision, that is, the resolution with which items maintained in memory are recalled. However, despite their emerging use in experimental studies of healthy people, evaluation of patient populations is sparse. We first investigated the validity of adjustment tasks, comparing precision with classical span measures of memory across the lifespan in 114 people. Second, we asked whether precision measures can potentially provide a more sensitive measure of WM than traditional span measures. Specifically, we tested this hypothesis examining WM in a group with early, untreated Parkinson's disease (PD) and its modulation by subsequent treatment on dopaminergic medication. Span measures correlated with precision across the lifespan: in children, young, and elderly participants. However, they failed to detect changes in WM in PD patients, either pre‐ or post‐treatment initiation. By contrast, recall precision was sensitive enough to pick up such changes. PD patients pre‐medication were significantly impaired compared to controls, but improved significantly after 3 months of being established on dopaminergic medication. These findings suggest that precision methods might provide a sensitive means to investigate WM and its modulation by interventions in clinical populations.     

Representations of numerical and non‐numerical magnitude both contribute to mathematical competence in children

A growing body of evidence suggests that non‐symbolic representations of number, which humans share with nonhuman animals, are functionally related to uniquely human mathematical thought. Other research suggesting that numerical and non‐numerical magnitudes not only share analog format but also form part of a general magnitude system raises questions about whether the non‐symbolic basis of mathematical thinking is unique to numerical magnitude. Here we examined this issue in 5‐ and 6‐year‐old children using comparison tasks of non‐symbolic number arrays and cumulative area as well as standardized tests of math competence. One set of findings revealed that scores on both magnitude comparison tasks were modulated by ratio, consistent with shared analog format. Moreover, scores on these tasks were moderately correlated, suggesting overlap in the precision of numerical and non‐numerical magnitudes, as expected under a general magnitude system. Another set of findings revealed that the precision of both types of magnitude contributed shared and unique variance to the same math measures (e.g. calculation and geometry), after accounting for age and verbal competence. These findings argue against an exclusive role for non‐symbolic number in supporting early mathematical understanding. Moreover, they suggest that mathematical understanding may be rooted in a general system of magnitude representation that is not specific to numerical magnitude but that also encompasses non‐numerical magnitude.